Not at all stalkerish, nope
by heatqueen
Summary: “Hypothetically, if you’re in love with her you can show her how amazing she really is.” “Of course that’s all hypothetical, right?” “Naturally.” *MINAKO/SETSUNA 1-SHOT*


**Not at all stalkerish, nope…**

**Summary: "Hypothetically, if you're in love with her you can show her how amazing she really is." "Of course that's all hypothetical, right?" "Naturally."**

**MINAKO'S POV**

It's not as if I was able to stop myself following her - the way she moved as she left the Shrine after the senshi meeting, her green hair moving gracefully behind her, was so endearing that I found myself scrambling to my feet as if I had no choice in the matter. Ignoring the questions and odd stares from my friends, I went outside the Shrine and watched as she went down the steps. When I thought she was far enough away not to notice me, I also began descending the steps.

My eyes were on her figure all the way down. Setsuna must be centuries old by now and yet she still looked no more than twenty years old. Despite the telltale signs - the battle scars, the wisdom in her eyes, her sophisticated speech - she still looked young and beautiful to me. I don't know, I just couldn't seem to think otherwise.

I didn't see my actions as stalkerish. It was more like I wanted to see her safely to wherever her destination was. I _had _to know that she was safe, that nothing bad would happen to her. Too many bad things had happened in her past already. This was the life in which she had the chance to be normal and happy and I didn't want anything to take that away from her. I never wanted her to be lonely again.

As I predicted, she made her way home, and I followed her until I was at the corner of the street of the outer senshi's house. I watched as she walked towards the gate. When she entered, I turned around to leave.

"Konnichiwa, koneko-chan."

Damn. And for once I'd thought I was stealthy. Of course Haruka and Michiru would be coming this way too. After all, it was their own house as well, _obviously._

_Baka Minako! _I chastised myself, flushing red.

"Eh…konnichiwa," I stammered in reply, secretly wanting to crawl into a hole and die of shame. I could already see the glint in Haruka's eye, the one that told me she was going to tease me forever and a day about this.

"I see Minako has found a new object of her affection," said Michiru with a smile on her face.

"Setsuna-san isn't - I -"

"And here I thought we were the only lesbians," Haruka added.

"But - I'm not -"

The two outers chuckled. Meanies.

"And yet, the old hag always tells us no one will ever have her," Michiru continued. "It's sad that she thinks like that, but now it looks like we can prove her wrong."

Something struck me inside and I felt my embarrassment fade. Sadness welled up inside me as I thought about what Michiru had just said. _So this is how Setsuna feels about herself?_

"But that's not true!" I spluttered. "How - how can she think like that? It's not true at all! Setsuna is -"

I quickly stopped myself. I'd been about to describe her as 'beautiful', but realized I wasn't ready to come out about my feelings for her, even to Haruka and Michiru. Suddenly clamming up, I tore my eyes away from them and began to walk.

"Wait, Minako-san," said Haruka.

I stopped and turned around.

"Let's just say _hypothetically _you are in love with Setsuna. _Hypothetically, _Setsuna hasn't had a lover to show her that all the crap she thinks about herself isn't true. So, _hypothetically, _if you are in love with her, you could show her exactly how amazing she really is."

I smiled. "Of course, that's all hy - hyper - hyper-pathetic, right?" I replied, struggling with the long word.

"Naturally."

"Hypothetically, how would I do that?"

"Hypothetically," Haruka replied, "tell her how you feel."

I couldn't sleep that night. I kept thinking about what Haruka and Michiru had revealed about Setsuna. Having had no idea that she felt that low about herself, I was shocked beyond belief. Here was this beautiful, amazing woman who had sacrificed absolutely everything including her own happiness to save the world, and yet she felt that nobody could possibly want her. I wondered why. _I want her, _I thought. _I want her so badly, I can't see why anyone wouldn't._

"_You could show her exactly how amazing she really is." _That hadn't been a hint, had it? As in, Haruka didn't think Setsuna loved me in the same way, did she? _"Hypothetically, tell her how you feel."_ The sentence played itself in my head. Should I? Tell Setsuna how I feel, I mean?

But if that was the case, surely Setsuna already knew? She was the Guardian of Time after all, meaning she always knew these things._ I wonder what she sees in her future…?_

I sighed. In terms of being the senshi of love and beauty, I sure as hell was doing a bad job of it. It was funny how, with anyone else, I was able to read them like a book about who their perfect match was, and whether their feelings would be requited, but when it came to myself, I was lost. I simply didn't have a clue how Setsuna felt about me. It didn't help that she was such a guarded person that her emotions were nearly impossible to tell half the time.

The next day, once again, I found myself standing outside the Outers' house debating on whether to ring the doorbell. As my finger pushed the button, that same second, the gate opened to reveal Setsuna standing there. I gaped in surprise, then realized that by now I really shouldn't be. She was the guardian of Time. She'd known I was coming.

I was immediately drawn to her beautiful, garnet eyes. They always seemed so far-off, so distant, that their air of mystery drew me in and captivated me every time I looked at them. I could already feel myself going red.

"Konnichiwa, Setsuna…san," I stammered, quickly remembering to use the honorific I so often left off when thinking of her name in my head.

"I believe you wanted to speak to me," she replied in that mysterious manner that made my heart race. I nodded, unable to speak. Setsuna closed the gate behind her. "Let's go for a walk, Minako-chan."

My stomach flipped with the use of -chan. It felt strange hearing that honorific from an Outer after becoming so used to the more formal -san. We began walking, towards the park or some place. For a while, neither of us said anything, both of us comfortable in each other's presence. Or rather, _she _seemed comfortable - I, on the other hand, felt extremely awkward.

"So what brought you here, Minako-chan?" Setsuna asked. If my face wasn't already tomato-coloured, it certainly was now.

"I just - I -" I was struggling to get the words out. In truth I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to say to her. I just knew I need to be right here, right now, just me and her alone. She didn't push me, didn't probe, didn't prod me for information, but simply allowed me to find the strength to say it for myself. It was one of the things I loved about her. "Setsuna…Setsuna-san, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," she replied. "What is it?"

"How the hell did you do it?"

Setsuna looked puzzled. "How did I do what? You'll have to be more specific than that."

"I mean, the time gates. For centuries on end. How the god damn hell did you do it, Setsuna? Because I would never have been able to do it. I would never have been able to stand there for days on end, sacrificing my happiness to fulfil my duty. And yet you did it for centuries on end, Setsuna! And I feel horrible because here we are having great lives in Earth, and there you are standing at the gates all by yourself for hundreds of years - and you must have been so lonely! And I don't want to see you like that because everyone deserves to be happy!"

The words came tumbling out my mouth before I could stop myself. The tears were welling up quickly. I expected Setsuna to be furious with me for bringing up her past, but strangely enough, she wasn't. In fact, her face was completely and utterly expressionless. I felt slightly afraid that I'd said too much.

"Minako…"

Our eyes met and, in hers, I could see her straining to control her expression. Her distant appearance was wearing thin and now she looked sort of reflective.

"Minako-chan, you care that much for me?"

I gazed directly at her and nodded.

"Setsuna, I think about it all the time. I think what it must have been like standing at those gates and I just can't imagine it. I can't imagine life without my friends and family, I can't imagine life with no contact and nothing but a duty to fulfill. I hate that that's what happened to you, I hate it!"

"You get used to it after a while."

Her voice was so soft it was barely audible. Underneath her façade, I could see just a faint trace of bitterness, but that trace was more than enough for me to know that Setsuna hadn't been happy about it either.

"That's awful," I replied, almost as softly. Then, as if on instinct, I hugged her. Tears began to roll down my cheeks as I wept for her past, for her destiny, for everything that had happened to her that simply wasn't fair.

"Setsuna, I never want you to be alone again," I confessed. "I never want you to be at that time gate all by yourself again, and I never want you to think that no one will ever want you, because that's not true. Because even if the rest of the world doesn't give a damn, I DO. I do want you. So badly. I - I'm sorry…" I tailed off, realizing what I'd just said. She just hugged me as I sobbed into her chest.

"Minako-chan," she said. I gazed up at her and could feel electricity tingling up my spine. Suddenly it all clicked into place, for this was exactly the same tingle I always got when the Goddess of Love in me recognized a perfect match. With a sudden surge of passion, I leaned up towards her and our lips met in a soft, tender kiss.

"_Show her exactly how amazing she really is…" _The words echoed in my mind.

_I hope you know now, Setsuna-hime._


End file.
